Uncertainty
by FandomDealer
Summary: Sasuke's returned to the village with Sakura and Naruto, but the Uchiha is silent and Naruto is severely injured. What will happen to them now that they’ve returned? What do their futures hold? Generic summary ne?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto!

**A/N:** This is my first time writing for Naruto, so I hope people find this satisfactory. Be patient with the writing, it is slow but there isa story here,though nothing involving a huge plot. It deals with a lot more of the emotion of things rather than missions andfighting. Enjoy!

* * *

---1-

Naruto lay in his hospital bed staring at the ceiling. Tsunade had ordered him not to move. His wounds were severe and moving would only make them worse. Kyubi was more careful now, after finding out that his vessel will die if he forced heal too often, so he allowed for medicines to help the healing process.

Naruto lay in his bed, staring at nothing, letting his mind wonder as the bind-jutsu didn't allow him to move, even his neck was in a bind because it was severely injured. He heard the door slide open, he strained his eyes to the right to see who it was but he couldn't see. Foot steps got closer but they weren't walking to wards him, they were walking towards the window. As the figure sat on the widow sill Naruto saw it was Sasuke.

He sat there, not even noticing Naruto and stared out the window. Naruto didn't say anything, he was content having something to look at and knowing he wasn't alone.

A few minutes passed as Naruto watch the Uchiha that stared out the window when the door slid open again. "Ah Naruto-kun!" A cheery female voice called.

Naruto turned his eye towards the right and Sakura was already by his side. "Ah Sakura-chan!" Naruto smiled his usual smile.

"I see Tsunade-sama released your mouth."

"Tsunade-baba is mean, I had to agree to stop screaming if she let me out of the bind. Hey hey, Sakura-chan, you're Tsunade-baba's student, you probably know how to take this bind off."

"Naruto! You're hurt, if you start to move around now, you'll cripple yourself."

Naruto made a face at this.

Sakura lifted her eyes from Naruto for a second and glanced at the Uchiha. "Ano, Naruto-kun, has Sasuke-kun been like that since he arrived?"

Naruto flicked his eyes towards the Uchiha and back to the worried Sakura. "Yeah. So he hasn't talked yet?"

"No, he hasn't. He's starting to worry me."

"Ah, don't worry Sakura-chan! He'll come around." Naruto said with his best cheery voice.

Sakura nodded and now turned to Naruto. "How are you feeling Naruto-kun?"

"Oh, except for the bind, I'm good. How long will it be before Tsunade-baba lets me out?"

"It's hard to tell, normally it would be two weeks at least but with the Kyubi, it might be a couple of days." She smiled. "Anyway, I have to get back to work, I'm going to leave Sasuke-kun to you."

"To me! I can't even move!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Don't worry Naruto, he's not going to run away again."

Naruto made a face but nodded.

After a couple hours of watching the unmoving Uchiha, Naruto drifted off to sleep. When he woke again it was the middle of the night and Sasuke was asleep sitting in a chair beside his bed. Naruto sighed at this and the Uchiha's eyes immediately opened.

"Oh sorry." Naruto apologized softly.

Sasuke ran a hand over his face and shook his head in an 'it's not your fault' manner. Sasuke and Naruto continued to stare at each other for a moment before Naruto blinked.

"Eh, Sasuke?"

Sasuke's eyes hardened in defense. It was clear that Sasuke didn't want to talk yet, so Naruto didn't say anything further.

---

_2 days later…_

"There you go Naruto-kun. You're free to move around." Sakura smiled at her blonde friend as he jumped out of bed and immediately stumbled.

"Heh heh, I guess I'm not used to using my body." Naruto said as he smiled at Sakura while the Uchiha watched from the windowsill.

"You still have to be careful Naruto-kun. If you put too much strain on your body you can destroy it. So no training or missions for a month, that's Tsunade-sama's orders." Sakura concluded in a serious face.

"Ehh! No training! Then what am I supposed to do?"

"I don't know. Just relax for a month and just in case you decide you don't want to listen to me, Sasuke-kun will be keeping an eye on you." At this both the young men looked surprised.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto whined.

"Listen to me Naruto, your injuries aren't the kind that can easily be healed, if you destroy your body, that's it. So be patient. It's only a month." Sakura warned and left the room before the blonde could make any more objections.

Naruto turned to the Uchiha and smiled.

Naruto crawled on to the window ledge and made to jump out the window when he was firmly pulled back by Sasuke.

"You're right… it's a little too early for that." He got himself up again and walked out the door and down the hall with the Uchiha following.

"Are you going to follow me everywhere I go?" Naruto asked turning to the Uchiha in annoyance.

Sasuke just shrugged.

"You're not going to take Sakura's orders seriously are you?"

Sasuke shrugged again.

Naruto led him around town, pointing out things that have changed since they were young to the unresponsive teen. Naruto finally stop moving when he reached his favorite ramen stand.

They went inside and took some seats. "What do you want Sasuke?" Sasuke just stared at the blonde with hard eyes. "Right! We'll have two house specials please."

After they were done eating, Naruto started walking again, this time leaving the town behind and out towards the training grounds and the forest.

Uchiha who was only a step behind Naruto was looking at Naruto suspiciously.

Naruto eventually led them to a familiar looking training field.

"Ah, Sasuke, do you still remember that day when we tried to get the bells from Kakashi sensei? When I got back to the village a year ago Kakashi sensei put me and Sakura to the same test, this time though we managed to get both bells, no problem!"

Sasuke look surprised at this. "Hey hey! We're strong now, stronger than Kakashi sensei." Naruto countered the look Sasuke gave.

Sasuke gave a smirk at this. "Hey Sasuke, when are you going to start talking again?"

Sasuke's smirk disappeared and in place was nothing. His look was blank.

Naruto gave a nervous laugh, "I guess that was a stupid question."

Naruto then turned away and focused elsewhere. He was then at the tree in a blur, from there he was running, jumping from tree to tree. He could finally move and he wanted to really move. Suddenly Naruto stopped, right in front of him was an angry looking Uchiha.

Then the Uchiha was suddenly behind him. Naruto felt a sharp pain at the base of his neck and he passed out.

"Dobe!" Sasuke picked up the blonde and moved out of the forest back towards the village.

Naruto woke up a couple of hours later in his own bed, when he threw his gaze around the room he found the Uchiha who had knocked him out sitting on his window sill right next to the bed.

Sasuke looked at the now fully awake Naruto.

"Why'd you do that? I wasn't training!"

Sasuke opened his mouth to say something but immediately closed it and looked away.

Naruto gave a sigh and got up out of his bed. Sasuke immediately got up and stood on Naruto's bed.

"Relax, I'm only going to the bathroom." Naruto responded to the alertness of the Uchiha.

Sasuke relaxed back on to the sill as he saw Naruto enter the bathroom. A few minutes later Naruto walked out again and joined Sasuke at the window.

They passed a few minutes in silence as they watched the village fade into darkness and the streetlights come on.

"Naruto," Naruto turned to his friend who was still watching the village. "Don't do that again. Sakura's worried about you."

Naruto started laughing at this. "She's worried about you too, maybe then you should try talking to her."


	2. Chapter 2

_Sakura was on the ground chakra exhausted and staring at the darkness as they began their chant to the ritual to extract the Kyubi out of Naruto. Sakura looked to her side where Kakashi sensei was lying knocked out, possibly under some kind of genjutsu. She cursed herself for always being so useless, but she was so exhausted it would take her at least a day to even get up._

_She cringed when Naruto began screaming from the pain of having the Kyubi extracted from his body forcibly._

_'No choice then' Sakura reached down with her hand to her pack on her leg and extracted a little vial the Hokage had given her. 'I didn't want to use this, but Naruto had always put his life on the line for me.' She took the cork out and was about to drink it when someone's foot stepped on her hand and forced the vial out of her hand. 'Shit! Who the he…' as she looked up she saw a pair of crimson eyes look down at her. 'Sasuke….'_

_He disappeared in a blur and a moment later Naruto stopped screaming for a moment. A few seconds later it picked up again and Sakura winced._

_Minutes that felt like hours passed. Sakura knew the extraction took a lot of time, but Sakura also knew that Sasuke was in there with at least two members of the Akutsuki, Itachi and Kisame; so how much time did he have?_

_Suddenly Sakura felt the Kyubi's chakra fill the whole cave and long with that another chakra exploded, it felt familiar and she guessed it was Sasuke's chakra. She felt the two other chakras slowly diminish as minutes passed until there were only two left and then they too subsided._

_She heard footsteps come her way and she was relieved and not surprised at all to find it was Naruto and Sasuke._

_Soon as Naruto saw that Sakura was on the ground unable to really move he ran to her and bend over her. "Eh, Sakura-chan, are you okay?"_

_"Hai, Naruto-kun." She croaked out. She then turned her head to Sasuke, "Arigatou Sasuke-kun."_

_"Hey, Sakura-chan," Naruto said as he helped her up. "Sasuke is coming back with us."_

_Sakura gave a grateful smile to the Uchiha whose look was cold as he picked up their former sensei._

**---2-**

Naruto was sitting in the middle of the training field concentrating on chakra control, while Sasuke watched over him from not too far away.

"Naruto-kun!" Sakura disrupted Naruto's concentration and he lost the chakra flow. She ran in closer to him. "What were you doing?" She asked him suspiciously. "And where's Sasuke-kun?"

"Ah! Ohayo Sakura-chan!"

"Naruto!" She demanded an explanation. Sasuke walked up beside her.

"Ah! Sakura-chan, I was just working on chakra control!" he whined to her.

Sakura narrowed her eyes at Naruto and resist the urge to hit him over the head. "Baka! When I said you couldn't train, I meant you couldn't train, AT ALL!"

She then got on her knees next to Naruto taking his wrist in her hand, checking his pulse. "Do you feel any pain?" Naruto stared at her a moment and then looked up at Sasuke who was looking a little angry.

"Uh… not really."

"What do you mean not really?"

"It hurts a little, my stomach, but its no big deal Sakura-chan. I'm okay." Naruto gave a goofy grin, but Sakura just seemed even more concerned.

She lifted his shirt and placed her hand over his stomach, Naruto immediately blushed and looked away from both his teammates.

He could feel Sakura's chakra examining him and then after a few seconds it stopped. Sakura gave a sigh and took her hand away letting his shirt drop back over his stomach.

"Nothing's wrong, but Naruto please! Stay away from training, just for a while." Sakura pleaded with Naruto.

Naruto looked back at his teammates who both looked relieved.

Naruto nodded his head. "Sorry Sakura-chan, I didn't mean to worry you."

---

Naruto and Sasuke were back at Naruto's apartment. Sasuke had taken to staying with the blonde in his small apartment, sleeping on the floor by Naruto's bed at night. Naruto was usually careful not to wake the Uchiha. One time he had gotten up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night and in the darkness he had stepped on Sasuke's hand. The irritated Sasuke had allowed Naruto to go the bathroom but as soon as he had got back, the Uchiha used one of his many ninjutsu to bind Naruto to his bed. When Naruto made to complain, Sasuke had flashed his Mangekyo and the Naruto immediately closed his mouth.

Though this night Naruto blatantly called to Sasuke, ignoring the dangers of waking the Uchiha. "Hey, Sasuke." His voice was almost lost as a whisper, though he didn't intend it to.

There was a grunt of acknowledgement from Sasuke.

"You killed your brother." Naruto said.

There was another grunt.

"What's next?" Naruto asked. Naruto didn't expect much of an answer, instead he expected the boy on the floor to be irritated and demand that Naruto shut up so that he could go to sleep. Instead there was silence for a long moment, then Sasuke's voice broke the silence.

"I don't know." The answer came out clear, with no hint of irritation in his voice, suggesting that Sasuke wasn't asleep when Naruto called to him.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **Gomen! I was suppose to update on Friday but I was busy and neglected my duty! Sorry again. Enjoy now and leave a review… I don't particularly need reviews but it's nice to hear what people have to say, especially any criticism.

Someone asked if this was sasunaru… I don't know what to say.

---**3**-

Naruto had finally slipped away from Sasuke. He had pretended to be asleep and as soon as Sasuke went to take a shower Naruto took off. Now that he was out and about by himself he didn't know what he could do. He took a walk across the village early in the morning and watched as people began to open their shops along the streets. His journey finally bought him to the Hokage tower.

Naruto feeling a bit mischievous decided to go annoy Tsunade-sama. Naruto made his way up to the office and stopped when he heard Sakura's voice boom in the office. He stood outside by the doors and listened in.

"Tsunade-sama! There has got to be away."

"Sakura, calm down!"

"There has got to be away, I'm not good enough yet, you have to help me find a way."

"Sakura, sit down!" Tsunade's voice boomed in command.

Naruto heard the 'oof' of the chair as Sakura slump into it.

"I'm sorry Sakura, but there is nothing we can do. Naruto's life has already been drastically shortened, if kyubi comes out again, he'll die, so all we can do is make sure he'll never have to use kyubi again."

Naruto stood frozen there for a moment, his world spun for a moment, he couldn't hear anything and everything was a blur. He backed away from the door and before he knew it he was running. He was out of the Hokage tower in no time and past the streets of the village until there were no paths.

He found himself deep in the forest with no real idea of where he'd off run to. He chose the closest tree and climbed it to a high branch where he could barely see the village from.

He saw the endless number of houses and businesses and then Hokage tower standing over them all and behind that the protective faces of the past Hokages on the cliff watching over the village.

How he wished he was just another one of those villagers; not special, not so hated and feared. How he'd kill to be a nobody in a nice family. Even though he has seen many of his friends with their families, he could only make guesses as to how it feels to have parents and to be loved by them.

"Cha! It doesn't matter. I've got other people who care about me like Tsunade-sama and Sakura..."

---

_Back at the Tower…_

"Tsunade-sama, is there really nothing we can do?"

"Medically, no. But we can make his last years better."

"Do you know how much longer he has?"

"Maybe he'll live to see 25."

"What about Sasuke? Does he have longer?"

"No, not much."

"Sasuke already knows about his condition doesn't he?"

"Yes he does."

"And Naruto? Will we tell him?"

"I haven't decided, for now you should keep it to yourself." The last part came out as a comand and Sakura automatically snapped into attention in her seat.

"Hai Tsunade-sama."

"You can leave now, Sakura."

"Hai." Her voice had returned to its quiet sadness.

---

Sasuke wondered the streets of Konoha as he searched for Naruto. He had already searched all of Naruto's favorite places; the only place left was the Hokage tower.

"Sasuke-kun!" He heard the cheery voice of Sakura call to him.

He looked straight ahead and there she was only a few steps away, with a bright smile on that somehow seemed dimmer than usual. As they stood feet from each other, she looked around him with a puzzled look, "Sasuke-kun, where's Naruto-kun?"

"Sorry Sakura, he got away from me. I was just heading over to the Hokage tower to check if he was there. He's probably there, that dobe, he loves to pretend he's the Hokage and to annoy Tsunade-sama." He mumbled the last part.

"Oh..." Sakura had taken a shocked look.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the medic-nin. "What?"

"Well... if he was there, he might have heard something that he wasn't suppose to."

"You mean about his life?"

"You knew!"

Sasuke shrugged, "Kabuto-san told me."

"Have you told Naruto?"

"No and you're not going to either."

"What if he heard me talking with Tsunade-sama?"

"Then it doesn't matter does it." Sasuke ended the conversation and walked away, deciding he didn't have to go to the Hokage tower anymore, that Naruto probably heard everything with his unusual luck and ran away.

He followed the path straight out of the village and into forest. Not too deep into the forest he stopped and summoned up a small bright green pit viper.

"Find Naruto."

The small snake held its head for a moment and then slithered away in a random direction with Sasuke following.

After about 20 minutes and two false leads, the snake led him to a tree and it began climbing. Sasuke looked up and saw Naruto sitting on a high branch staring into the distance. He was sure Naruto hadn't noticed him so he commanded the snake to stop.

"You're job is done." The snake poofed away.

Sasuke chose a tree not too far to watch the blonde from and waited quietly.

---

Even as night fell upon the village, Naruto sat on his branch on the tall tree and watched wondering when Sasuke would finally approach him. He had sense Sasuke hours ago when he had climbed the tree and taken a seat on a branch. Sasuke was ever patient, but even he was fidgeting after hours of nothing but sitting. Naruto decided to take pity on him and stood up on the branch and stretched. He then looked over his shoulder and called to Sasuke.

"Hey teme, you coming?"

Sasuke in a blur appeared next to Naruto and for a moment they didn't move, just stared out, but then Naruto jumped off the branch with Sasuke following.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, nor will I ever…. I don't think I'll own anything great in my life time.

**A/N:** Just out of curiosity... how many people would like this to be narusasu? and how many care for elaborate battle scenes?

These words came to my head while sitting at work. At first they seem to speak about a woman who suddenly lost her husband, but now it seems strangely appropriate to Naruto's current world.

_The world falls apart again. You surely wish it didn't. But this is how it all ends. No choice in the matter whatsoever._

---**4**-

After a month of no training, Naruto was getting restless. Though everyone thought of Naruto as lazy, even Naruto had limits to how much he could sleep and do nothing.

Naruto walked through the village to the Hokage tower with Sasuke at his side, watching as people went about their business for the day.

When they got there Tsunade was ready and waiting for them. Naruto took a seat on an examining table of an examination room and took of his shirt as she commanded while Sasuke stood in a corner by the window staring not out the window but at Naruto.

Tsunade-sama began her examination of Naruto immediately. She held her glowing with chakra hand over Naruto's chest for a while before she moved to another area of Naruto's torso to check his other organs. She finished in a couple of minutes.

"How are you feeling Naruto?" Tsunade-sama asked.

"Good, great." Naruto said enthusiastically.

"That's good, but you're not done healing. Sorry Naruto but you're going to have to stay away from training for another month."

"Okay." Naruto said, with no hint of intended disobedience in his voice.

Tsunade searched Naruto's face for a hint of rebelliousness but found none. She then remembered what Sakura had said to her. "You know." She whispered and Sasuke's ear pricked up.

"Hai." Naruto said with an emotionless face.

Tsunade shook her head and turned away from Naruto to walk over to a cabinet. "No training for another month." she said authoritatively. She opened the cabinet door and took out a pack from a shelf. She crushed it in her hands and placed it on her forehead.

She turned and sighed. "The headaches never stop."

--

Sasuke had not been ordered to stay with Naruto, he had also not been told it was okay to leave Naruto, so he stayed by Naruto's side. In fact after all this time, it only felt natural to stay by Naruto's side.

Sasuke was standing in Naruto's apartment watching the blonde as he went about making his dinner.

"Move in with me." Sasuke said to the blonde standing in front of him.

"Wha?" Naruto asked as if he hadn't heard what the dark eyed boy said.

"I'm getting tired of sleeping on the floor." Stated Sasuke emotionlessly.

"You don't have to stay here every night!" Naruto threw back.

"Then who would watch you?" Sasuke said with anger in his voice.

"You don't have to watch me; I can take care of myself." Naruto said reflecting the same anger as Sasuke.

"You obviously can't, that's why Tsunade-sama assigned me to you. Because she knew you would go out training in the night and hurt yourself."

"Tsunade-sama assigned you to me because she didn't know what to do with you. She couldn't just give you missions!" Naruto yelled back, but then bit his lip as he realized what he had said.

"Pft." Sasuke huffed, then turned and jumped out Naruto's window.

Naruto stood there dead still. Then he cursed at himself for being so stupid.

There was a knock at the door suddenly and Naruto whet to answer it.

--

Sasuke went back to his old apartment that he had used before he had left. The only reason it was still open to him is because the Uchiha estate owned the apartment. He opened the sliding door to the balcony and then proceeded to do some house cleaning.

He changed the bedding on his bed and dusted all the furniture in the apartment, which took him an hour and was getting ready to go grocery shopping when he remembered he had no money; he had been living off of the dobe all this time. Surely the council had chosen to freeze his accounts when he left, he'll have to check on that tomorrow, it was too late now. The sun was setting on the day. His stomach gave a loud growl and there was a knock at the door.

He grumbled at the thought of visitors so soon after he moved back in but he got up and went to open the door.

When he opened the door, standing in front of him was Naruto, with a big bag slung over his shoulder and a box in his hands. Sasuke looked shocked.

"Hehe…" Naurto gave a nervous laughed. "I got kicked out of my apartment."

Sasuke moved aside to let him in while Naruto kept talking.

"For me no missions mean no money, and feeding two mouths isn't cheap. Nice place." Naruto commented as he looked around the living room and the small kitchen in the corner.

Naruto put down the stuff in his hands and Sasuke was to tell him to pick it back up when Naruto grabbed his hand and dragged him out the door.

"I'm hungry. Let's go eat." Naruto stated.

--

When they got back from dinner Naruto took off his shoes at the entry and put them away in the hall closet. He then went and picked up his stuff.

"Where should I put my stuff?"

Sasuke led him through the narrow living area into his spacious bedroom and then through the bathroom to his closet where it was mostly empty. Sasuke then pulled some blankets and pillows off the shelf and took them out while Naruto neatly placed his stuff in a corner and dug out his pajamas and a towel out of his bag.

He then thoughtlessly stripped off his clothes and took his towel and entered the glass walled shower. He turned on the water to steaming hot and then let the water pour down his back as he leaned his hands on the wall and let his head hang.

"Hey dobe! What are you—" Naruto turned to see a blurry Sasuke at the doorway standing still, now blushing slightly, not that Naruto could see through the steam. Sasuke immediately turned around. "Call me when you're done" and he left.

Naruto turned around again, sighed deeply and turned off the water. "No point wasting the hot water, Sasuke might kill me if he doesn't have any to use."

Naruto got dressed in his pajamas and walked out to the bedroom and saw Sasuke standing at the railing on the balcony.

"Yo Sasuke," he called out. "The shower's all yours." He then went out to the living room where the couch was already made up. He sunk into the warm blankets and sighed into a deep sleep.

Sasuke listen as Naruto crawled into the couch and waited until he could hear the soft breathing, which indicated that Naruto was asleep.

He entered his room again and closed the sliding door to the balcony. He checked on Naruto, making sure he's asleep and then went to the bathroom to take a shower himself.

He stood under the steaming hot water as it burned and turned his pale skin pink. When he got out his skin was wrinkled and pink, he felt old. He put on a pair of boxers and pulled on a t-shirt. He went out to the balcony again to get some air.

He stood at the railing breathing in fresh air and looking over the village while also listening to Naruto breathe. Suddenly there was a very loud thud in the living room and Sasuke rushed to the living room.

"Nar—" he had been about to ask if Naruto was okay, but now he could clearly see what had made the noise. Naruto had rolled off the couch on to the floor and he was still asleep. Sasuke shook his head with a small smile on his lips.

He walked to Naruto and bent over him. He untangles the blonde from the blanket and picked him up. Sasuke moved the sleeping Naruto to his own bed and covered him with the sheet and blanket. When he stepped back he noticed that Naruto's eyes moved beneath the lids. Naruto was dreaming and by the facial expression of Naruto they weren't good dreams.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto!

**A/N: **Sorry I neglected to update last week. I just wasn't around one of my computers and I've been so busy at work. I'm sorry about this but you'll never find out what his dreams are about… I'll leave it up to y'alls imaginations. I've been a writing demon lately, though the characters have taken total control and there was even an unexpected twist around the 9th (?) chapter that even I didn't know of! Geez…. Anyway, enjoy kiddos!

---**5**-

_2 years later _

Tsunade stood in front of the council trying to convince them of her decision. Usually she wouldn't have to bother with this, but her decision involves Naruto, and that always made them nervous. Even after all these years and after all Naruto had done for the village.

"Naruto is going to be the next Hokage." Tsunade's authoritative voice stated, leaving no room for argument not that the council heard the determination in her voice.

"We are concerned."

"About what, that the Kyubi will get out and destroy the village? Or maybe it's that Naruto can't defend the village without the aide of the Kyubi? Either way he can't seem to win right? So which stand will you take?" She paused for a moment and gave a sigh. When she spoke again she sounded much calmer. "If Kyubi tries to come out, then Naruto dies that means the Kyubi dies as well. And we all know that Naruto is the strongest shinobi in this village. The only one who comes close to that is Sasuke and he doesn't suit the position."

"What about your apprentice?"

"Sakura is not ready. Naruto's the only choice for the position, and he only has a couple of years left anyway. There isn't anyone who loves this village more than Naruto. He is going to be the Rokudaime." Tsunade made her statement final.

--

"Tsunade-sama." Naruto saluted the Hokage and stood at the edge of the Hokage's desk, tall and lean. His voice was deep and manly, he had lost all boyishness in his face and attitude and he had begun growing his hair, which he kept tied back. He had finally turned into a serious shinobi.

"Ah Naruto."

"What was it that you needed? I was having ramen!" He said with a flat voice.

Tsunade almost smiled at this. He might sound serious but he was the same old gaki. "I call you here to say that I'm stepping back. I've chosen a new Hokage."

Naruto tensed at this. "Oh," was all he could say.

"I had to argue a great deal with the council, so don't mess it up gaki!"

Naruto's face showed shock.

"Is it okay to come in now?" Sakura's voice called from the other side of the door to the Hokage's office.

"Hai hai." Hokage called.

The doors flung open and standing there was the Sakura, Sasuke, Kakashi and Iruka.

"Congratulations! If someone told me 8 years ago that you were going to be Hokage one day I would have said they were crazy." Sakura gave him a hug, which surprised him. "Come on, she took his hand and began to drag him. Everyone's waiting to celebrate."

---

The celebration had dragged on for hours. When Sakura said everyone she had meant everyone. Konohamaru, Moegi, Udon, Hinata, Kiba, Shino, Shikamaru, Chouji, Ino, Neji, Lee, Gai, Tenten, Gaara, Temari, Kankuro and some other people that Naruto had come to be friends with come along to celebrate. There was a moment where Kankuro had tried to trick the stiff Lee, who absolutely refused to drink, into drinking some sake; fortunately Gai had stopped him in time.

Sasuke and Naruto dragged themselves to Sasuke's apartment at 2 in the morning, not completely sober, nor were they completely drunk.

Naruto made it to the shower first so Sasuke took a seat out on the balcony. After years of living together they had managed to fall into a routine where they didn't bother each other much. Sasuke had suggested early on moving to one of the houses on the Uchiha estate, but Naruto had insisted on staying knowing that Sasuke didn't want to move back to the main house.

They had even fallen into the habit of sharing a bed. After the first few days of Naruto falling off the couch in the midst of his nightmares and Sasuke getting tired of sleeping on the couch. They had both agreed to share the large bed.

Naruto was quickly done with his shower. He dried himself and put on a pair of boxers and a t-shirt. He dried off his hair slightly and stepped out to the balcony, the towel still around his neck.

"Your turn teme."

Sasuke just nodded and went inside. Naruto took a seat on the chair that Sasuke had been sitting in the moment before. He leaned back and closed his eyes.

"Naruto." He felt a touch at his shoulder. He slowly opened his eyes.

"I was just thinking Sasuke." He responded, staring off into the distance. "They let me be the Hokage because I'm going to die soon."

"Who cares." Sasuke leaned against the frame of the door and crossed his arms. "Are you going to insist on staying out here much longer?"

Naruto gave a smile and shook his head. He picked himself up and walked inside again going straight for the bed. Sasuke closed the door behind Naruto and joined Naruto. Naruto was stretched out on the right side with his hands behind his head.

"Don't worry, just go to sleep, you'll do okay."

Naruto closed his eyes and immediately fell asleep with alcohol still in his system.

--

When he woke up the next morning, his head hurt, though not as badly as it would have if he had been completely drunk last night.

He took another shower to make himself feel better and then took off for the Hokage tower. This was to be his first day as Hokage, Rokudaime. One of his boyish smiles cracked and he immediately put it away, only smiling in his mind.

When Naruto got to _his_ office, on his desk sat piles of papers and standing next to it was Shizune waiting to make sure he does it all. He let out a groan and internally cursed Tsunade-sama for allowing him to have the position. He was pretty sure that she had neglected her work for at least the last week!

He let out another groan and walked behind his desk and took a seat, readying himself for the work.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer:** Don't own Naruto.

**A/N: **I really had fun writing this story! And I finished writing it um… about a week ago. I still need to edit. And as usual this story will be updated every Friday.

I guess I should warn people now. There is no real happy ending to this story. It's just the way it wrote itself.

---**6**-

_A year later… _

Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura entered what seemed to be an empty clearing. Naruto had gotten word of suspicious sighting of ninja outside the village in a dense part of the forest. Naruto had ordered the ANBU to defend the perimeter of the village and he chose to come here himself; Sakura had insisted she come along and Sasuke showed up on their way there.

Naruto looked around but saw nothing. "Sakura?" He whispered in Sakura's direction.

"I don't see anything either."

"Sasuke?"

"They're here."

"That's what I thought. Do you think they'll follow if we leave?"

"Probably." Sakura answered.

"Then let's go." Naruto jumped into a tree that he was sure was free of any enemies and ran with Sakura and Sasuke following, they led the enemies away from the village.

They finally arrived at a meadow large enough that the enemies would have to disclose themselves. Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto positioned themselves towards the center of the field their backs to each other in a circle.

All around them, ninja's jumped out of trees to join them on the field.

"Naruto-kun," Sakura's voice was filled with urgency. "Remember, don't get hurt, and don't use Kyubi."

"Don't worry Sakura-chan," Naruto said with a smile in his voice.

"Sasuke-kun—"

"I know Sakura."

"There are 12 here. Four for each." Naruto smiled. "Let's have some fun."

Sasuke flickered where he stood and in a moment appeared a distance away closer to a group of their opponents. Sakura and Naruto ran to their opponents.

Sasuke's sharingan activated. He appears behind each of his enemies knocking down each as soon as he appears. The last man steps away just as Sasuke brought down his hand. The man took several steps and turns to see that there is no one there. Then he too crumples to the ground and Sasuke who was standing behind the man turns to see how the others are doing.

Sakura had already knocked out two of her opponents who had obviously under estimated the female. Two others soon lay on the ground crumpled; one clutching at his heart and the other was dead. Naruto had used his rasengan on the first two opponents at the same time; they were slouched by a tree which was clearly damaged by the hit. The other two were still alive and awake but bound and sitting on the ground. Sasuke turned to his own opponents and summoned up several snakes to watch them as he went to Naruto. Sakura had done the same. She had bound the enemies and summoned up a rather large slug to watch over them.

Sasuke and Sakura slowly made their way to Naruto who was waiting for them.

"What's wrong Naruto-kun?" Sakura asked.

"They won't talk." He pouted.

Sakura smiled at this.

"I can make them talk." Sasuke stated as he activated his Mangekyo, but Sakura put a hand on his forearm and he deactivated his Mangekyo.

She dug in her pouch and produced a vial. "Antidotes and cures weren't the only things that Tsunade-sama taught me." She smiled. She then walked up to one of the enemy ninjas and held his nose forcing his mouth to open. She popped the cork on the vial and poured it down his throat. "Now speak!" She commanded with her strong voice.

"What village are you from?" Naruto asked.

--

Naruto was walking down the hall when he heard their voices and decided to eavesdrop.

"When are you going to tell him Sasuke-kun?"

"When I'm ready."

"Why don't you want him to know?"

Sasuke ignored that. "He doesn't have much longer Sakura, let him live in peace."

Naruto backed away from the wall he was pressed against and walked away, not waiting to hear the rest of the conversation. He headed back to the apartment and began packing up his things.

Five minutes later he was ready. Even after all these years as Hokage, he only has a bag full of clothes and a box full of things he's collected. Any other nick-knacks were at the office.

Just as he was about to leave, Sasuke came in.

"What are you doing?" he asked in a deadly quiet voice.

"Moving out. I can afford my own place now."

"You could have afforded your own place years ago."

"Why didn't you tell me you and Sakura were together? I would have gotten out of here earlier, given you two some space." Tears slipped out of Naruto's eyes and this surprised him.

"I'm not seeing Sakura." Sasuke answered surprised by the accusation.

"I heard you two talking. If you two aren't together then what's the big secret?"

"I can't tell you, that's why it's called a secret dobe."

Naruto sighed and slumped into the couch. He leaned forward, elbows on knees and his head in his hands.

"It's been years now Naruto. If you want Sakura, you better make a move soon."

"I don't want Sakura." Naruto mumbled into his hands.

"Then why are you so pissed?"

"Never mind." He stated and stood up, picking up his things.

Sasuke appeared before him in a blink of an eye. "You're not leaving." Sasuke stated a small plea in his voice.

Naruto stared into Sasuke's eyes a moment and shook his head. Sasuke took a step back and Naruto proceeded into their room with his stuff in his hands. Naruto dumped his stuff in the corner of the closet he usually occupied.

When he came out Sasuke was sitting outside on the balcony like usual and Naruto went to join him.

They passed a bottle of sake between themselves and sat in the quiet. They both felt the tension from something unsaid.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer:** Don't own Naruto.

**A/N:** important announcement on the next page.

---**7**-

The orders were sent. Naruto would face the leader, while everyone else would defend the village and protect its villagers. Naruto had already sent word to Hidden Sand about what was happening and was expecting some back up in a couple of days if the situation got worse.

Sasuke had insisted on coming along, refusing to let Naruto kill himself.

"Go back Sasuke. If I fail, you'll be the only thing standing between him and the village."

"Baka! Don't think you get to die so easily."

Naruto turned to face Sasuke and then gave him one of his Uzumaki Naruto grins.

They were well outside the village now; they could hear the attacks being hurled at the gates of Konoha. They dropped into a clearing that contained a number of unidentifiable ninjas, taking them by surprised.

Sasuke grabbed two fists that were thrown at him and threw both the owners while flinging himself up wards off the ground to do a summersault to avoid a kick. He threw a fireball at his attacker and landed safely on the ground near a tree. Naruto had used his rasengan to throw several of his enemies into trees and then finally kicked a man so hard in the stomach that he coughed up blood. Sasuke's attacker was slightly charred but he was still capable of a fight and swiftly attacked the Uchiha with several mud balls, which Sasuke countered with water but hidden in the mud were shurinken that continued on their path. Sasuke avoided each of the projectiles with the help of his shringan and then flickered into appearance next to his attacker. Naruto immediately walked to the man who was gushing blood and slit his throat. Naruto didn't like to kill but in war it was a necessity. When he turned he saw Sasuke standing beside a dead body.

They both nodded to each other and jumped into the trees. They proceeded even further into the forest where they would face more enemies.

After a few minutes they happened upon another clearing where the enemy had settled. Here lay several tents and a table with stacks of scrolls and maps lying open. The camp was mostly empty with the exception of a few people standing around the table.

Naruto and Sasuke both nodded to each other and jumped down from the trees. The enemy shinobi heard the rustle of leaves and immediately went into high alert. They were keen not to be too alarmed as this was a forest and had many creatures but they were cautious not to be overly relaxed either.

Sasuke summoned a fairly small bright green and yellow snake and told it to slitter out and if possible, bite a few. The ninjas relaxed again as they saw the camouflaged snake emerge from the forest and they turned back to their maps and charts. The snake slithered up to one of the men and bit him on the ankle. The man yelped and kicked the snake away. The snake landed a few feet away and picked up its head dangerously, hissing and staring at the man who had kicked him.

Naruto and Sasuke took the opportunity to attack the enemies from behind, immediately killing two of the ninjas. The two others turned and one gave a condescending grin to the young men.

One of the men was still young, in his mid-twenties. He had short black hair and large blue eyes that made him look boyish. He was tall and wore a mask similar to Kakashi's and tight black clothes of an ANBU with a vest. The other man was older and he did not hide his face. He was in his early forties and was just as tall as his subordinate. He had long gray hair that was braided and a scar that ran the entire length of his face through his left eye. He wore a black robe and carried a katana on his back.

"Ah, the Hokage himself came out to greet us." The older of the men said facing Naruto, he then shifted his gaze to Sasuke and addressed him. "And the last surviving Uchiha, lucky me, I don't have to go looking for you. Are you sure it was a wise decision to leave your village behind."

The sounds of an explosion carried to them from the village, but neither Naruto nor Sasuke turned their back on their enemies.

"I trust my friends to protect the village. And the sooner we defeat you the sooner we can get back to them, so would you like to tell us your names before we kill you?"

The older man grinned at this. "My name is Ume."

The other man stepped forward in front of the older man. "My name is Ichi. I have waited long to fight you Sasuke-san."

"Have we met?" Sasuke questioned.

"We have, not that you'll remember."

Suddenly an earth dragon erupted from the ground and with no hesitation Sasuke countered with a water dragon. The earth crumpled apart and the water hit the ground hard knocking down a few trees near by and flooding the area with a few inches of water.

Sasuke and Naruto flipped back into the trees just as their enemies ran into the forest.

"I'll take Ume." Naruto said to Sasuke who gave a grunt and they split up.

--

Sasuke had guessed right. They had been no match for Naruto or himself. They had easily killed the two men.

They were getting ready to leave when Naruto laid a hand on Sasuke's forearm. "Wait."

They were still standing in the clearing two bodies not too far from themselves.

"I need to set a trap before we leave." Naruto said. He then cut his hand on one of his kunai and spilt the blood on the ground he was standing on. He then formed many seals and slapped his hand to the ground on top of the blood and mumbled something that Sasuke could not hear. The blood gathered and took shape and when Naruto took away his hand, Sasuke could see a perfect print of Naruto's hand in blood, but nothing else seemed have changed.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow Naruto's way, questioning his actions but Naruto dismissed the look by jumping up into a tree. "We have to get back." He commanded.

--

They arrived outside the gates of the village to find it still in the middle of the battle.

"Sasuke, pass on the word to retreat and then come back, I'll be right here. I'll need you." Naruto said in a commanding tone.

Sasuke trusted his friend and the Hokage of the village to do what was best for the village even if retreating wasn't the best of ideas. Sasuke blurred away in a second and Naruto was left alone, standing in front of the devastated village gate.

-

Naruto closed his eyes and concentrated. _Kyubi, just this last time._ He internally begged. Then he released his chakra along with Kyubi's. He spread it so far in thin lines it was hard to control.

He released the first of the 9 tails.

He felt for all the enemies and wrapped a thin line of chakra around them. He tried not to touch any of his own people; Kyubi's chakra would poison them.

As the need for control grew the second of the tails emerged and his power flared to where people stared noticing.

-

Sasuke noticed as Naruto's power flared again, he felt the chakra of the Kyubi mixed with Naruto's own chakra in the air. He dismissed the ninja he was speaking with and moved on to another. As soon as he had told enough people he could get back to Naruto. Naruto was going to need him.

-

Naruto released another of the tails.

He wrapped the thin lines of chakra around many of the enemies and bound them. He could feel the area empty of his own people and he sighed a breath of relief; Sasuke had gotten the word out. He saw a flash and felt a kunai hit him, but now there was a chakra shield around him and the kunai had just simply bounced off. He looked around to see who it was and found the assassin in a tree hiding. Naruto could feel the fear roll off of him and this made Naruto grin. He sent another line of chakra out and bound the assassin as well.

-

Sasuke blurred next to Naruto and almost felt to his knees. He had not been ready for the denseness of the dark chakra in the air around Naruto. He adjusted and straightened. He stared at the tree that the assassin that Naruto had bound sat on still camouflaged among the leaves.

"Everyone's retreating. They should be out by now." Just as Sasuke finished Naruto released a fourth tail.

Naruto struggled to maintain control of himself.

He tightened all the lines of chakra he had around the enemies.

"Hyuga!" Naruto growled over his shoulder. "Leave! Bring Tsunade-sama when it is over." He issued another command.

Sasuke turned and glanced at Neji who stood by the outer wall of the village. Neji gave a quick bow. "Hai Hokage-sama." And then he blurred away.

"Anyone else?" Naruto asked Sasuke and Sasuke shook his head to the back of Naruto. "Okay then." Naruto's chakra grew more intense. Naruto was covered in blood now and only an outline of Naruto could be seen. There was a shadow of chakra around him that looked like a fox.

Naruto made several seals in a second and mumbled something while holding his hands up to his chest. For a second it looked like Naruto was praying.

Sasuke felt the change. He looked at the tree that held the assassin and found that the assassin was no longer there.

"Sasuke." Naruto struggled out the name from between clenched teeth. "Seal me now!"

_Naruto found himself in front of the gate where Kyubi was sealed. Kyubi's chakra was all around him but Sasuke was there next to him. Sasuke reached out a hand and touched the chakra formed Kyubi in front of them and suppressed it._

When Sasuke returned to reality he found Naruto, bleeding on the ground, on the ground unconscious and he himself was on the ground not too far from Naruto. "Kuso." The word slipped out of his mouth as he reached for Naruto but never quite reaching him before he himself slipped into the darkness.


	8. Chapter 8

---8-

Tsunade sighed as she finished examining Naruto. Sasuke was standing not too farfrom Naruto, still in his hospital clothes just as Naruto was. She couldn't believe this was happening.

Naruto was staring at the ground his eyes sad.

"There's no good news Naruto. You don't have much time left."

Naruto nodded to this. Sasuke stared at the blonde for a while then stared out the window again.

The moment passed in silence. Then Naruto fixed his face and stood up smiling like he used to when he was young. "Ne ba-chan, we'll make the most of it."

Tsunade couldn't help but smile at Naruto. "Gaki." Tsunade mumbled and waved Naruto away. "I need to talk to Sasuke. Go back to your room Naruto." She told him gently.

"Are you going to make him watch me again like after the last time?" Naruto asked in the voice he used when he was younger. "You know we live together; it's going to be even more annoying if he starts following me around again. You know I'm the Hokage right? I have important business!" Naruto got the last statement in before Tsunade completely pushed him out of the room and locked him out.

Sasuke was smiling at the scene. He missed being young.

--

Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura were back at the clearing where Sasuke and Naruto had met the leaders of the invaders of Konoha.

Sasuke bent over Naruto's bloody hand print on the ground. There was now a seal around it.

Sakura kneeled beside and then paled. "Na-Naruto."

"Sorry Sakura-chan."

Sasuke looked at the two of them with curiosity. "What is it?" He asked them.

Sakura looked at Naruto and he seemed hesitant to explain so Sakura proceeded for him. "It's called the Belly of the Beast. There is a cavern under here."

"Can we go down there?" Sasuke looked at Naruto and Naruto shook his head.

"It's not a good idea Sasuke." Naruto then passed Sasuke a look from behind Sakura that said 'leave it be for Sakura's sake'.

Sasuke gave a barely visible nod.

Sakura got up and walked over to one of the bodies of the defeated leaders that still lay there.

"I'll send someone to clean it up later." Naruto said. "What can you tell me?"

"They are from a clan called Kinao. I heard they were trying to reestablish themselves in the north. I guess they did this to prove themselves... maybe."

--

After Sakura excused herself from the group to attend to her duties again at the Hospital, Sasuke turned to Naruto.

"I guess you want to see it." Naruto asked with a sigh.

Sasuke nodded in response.

Naruto walked to the bloody handprint and crouched in front of it. He cut his finger and touched the hand print. A few feet away the earth errupted open and revealed a shaft in the ground.

Sasuke walked over and looked down into the hole in the ground. All he could see was darkness. Sasuke immediately summoned ropes and walked over to a tree. He secured the ropes there and then walked back to the hole. He threw them in and saw them unravel part of the way and then he couldn't see it anymore but he could hear it unraveling and falling.

"It's deep." Naruto told him from behind.

Sasuke nodded and tested the rope before he started his way down using concentrated chakra at his feet to hold on to the wall. Naruto followed Sasuke into the shaft, sliding down part of the rope before securing his feet against the wall.

After a few minutes and much further down they were in total darkness. Sasuke felt the walls of the shaft change texture and he stopped walking. Naruto who was only a few steps behind bumped into Sasuke.

"Careful dobe." Sasuke said over his shoulder to Naruto.

"Why did you stop?" Naruto asked.

"The wall changed."

"Hunh?" Naruto tapped his feet on the wall and finally noticed the changed texture. "Oh." Then suddenly the shaft lit up in front of them, torches had come alive. Sasuke looked over his shoulder at Naruto and noticed his hand on the wall. He assumed Naruto had performed some ninjitsu.

Sasuke focused back in front of him and noticed that the shaft came to end not too far down and turned into a tunnel perpendicular to the shaft. He jumped down to the ground and Naruto followed. They were surrounded by stone walls. The passage was narrow and long.

"Naruto?"

"Hmm?" Naruto was inspecting the stone wall. "It didn't look like this when I was here last." He mumbled.

"Why is the passage down here so long?" Sasuke asked.

"To discourage people from coming down here." Naruto shrugged like it was the obvious answer.

Naruto took the lead down the passage and was looking around at the walls. Sasuke too looked around but didn't see what was so interesting about the walls so looked straight ahead again.

Naruto stopped a few feet from a very solid looking iron door that was rusting at the edges. He was looking at the wall again. Sasuke walked up to the door and examined it. It was strange. It had no handle of any kind and no key hole. It had something carved into it in english though he didn't recognize any of the words. He traced some of the lettering with the finger tips and looked over his shoulder to Naruto.

"Dobe, what does this say?"

"Hunh?" Naruto turned and looked at what Sasuke was speaking of. "Umm..." He walked over to Sasuke's side leaned in closer to the door. "That girl wrote this in I guess. Um... _Anith patthe yudda na, anith patthe kalu. Minissu cana beast ii, minissu ennacung beast budii. Me dora arinna epa, me dora arinna ba.Beast wa danne nathung, me dora arenne na." _He struggled through it.

"I can read that much baka. What does it mean?" He asked irritably

"On the otherside there is no war, on the otherside it's black. The man eating beast lies there, until man arrives the beast slumbers. Don't open this door, can't open this door. If you don't know the beast, you can't open this door." Naruto almost recited.

"Could you really understand what was written there?" Sasuke asked with suspicion.

"Nope. I'm just guessing. That's what she always sang." Naruto answered as he walked back to the wall he had been examining.

"You mentioned her before, who is _she_?"

"You'll find out soon enough." Naruto rubbed his cut finger with his thumb and agitated the blood once more while he continued to appear to read something on the wall. He then pressed his finger, to Sasuke what seemed a random spot, on the wall, but suddenly the door creaked open a little.

Sasuke placed his hand at the edge and moved to push it open but Naruto's hand was there grabbing his wrist and pulling his hand gently away from the door.

"What was carved on the door was a warning. The beast lies on the otherside waiting to eat men and it likes to keep them alive while it feeds. If the guardian was here, she would have never allowed you in. She maybe on the otherside though." He said thoughtfully. "Becareful, she might decide to keep you here."

Naruto then pushed open the door and stepped in with Sasuke following closely. Soon as they were clear of the door they heard the door shut close. Sasuke looked back but all he saw was cavern wall.

There were two torches sitting on either side of the door that lit that small area but beyond the torch light it was darkness. When his eyes adjusted to the little light, Sasuke could only see what looked likea normal cavern. A very large and for the most part hollow cavern, but still very normal. There were pillars of stalagmite through out the cavern and large rocks here and there, but Sasuke saw no sign of a beast.

Suddenly something jumped in front of them. Neither Naruto nor Sasuke flinched though. It was in the shape of a tiger but it had blue-green scales for skin. It's tail was like a whip, it swayed from side to side in the air and at times slapped the ground leaving scars on the ground and sending rubble into the air. It stood there staring at the pair with its pure black eyes. It had a pair of long fangs that protuded out of it's mouth about 4 inches.


	9. Chapter 9

---9-

"Koki-chan!" A little girl's voice rang out. Sasuke looked around and saw a girl run into his view. The girl was maybe 6 or 7 years of age and she wore an Orange t-shrit, that looked familiar, and a pair of khaki shorts. Her feet, though, were bare.

The Girl ran right in front of the cat-like beast creature and waved a finger its way. "Be nice Koki-chan!" She chastised the cat. Then the girl turned around and smiled bright, her big red eyes looking up at the two ninja's. "Welcome." She said and took a deep bow. Then she looked up and jumped up into Naruto's arms. "Naruto-nichan!" She squeeled. She wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a kiss on the cheek and nuzzled his neck.

"So the brat is back." A woman's voice spoke. Sasuke was surprised that it was in fact the cat that spoke. "And he brought a meal with him." Sasuke stepped back as the cat took a step forward towards him.The cat let out a deep cold laugh. "Is the Uchiha afraid?" She asked.

Sasuke turned his head to Naruto who was holding in his arms the young girl who seem to be nuzzled into his neck with her arms around him.

Naruto stepped closer to Sasuke and looked at the cat. "No food, just a friend. Uchiha Sasuke meet Koki-sama, the beast of the cavern."

"Beast this, beast that." She said as she took a step forward towards Sasuke. "Just call me Koki-sama." She raised a paw to Sasuke.

Sasuke glanced sideways towards Naruto and noticed the little girl was fast asleep in his arms. Naruto gave him a nod and Sasuke bent and took the paw.

Soon as Sasuke had taken his hand back the cat sprang back on to a large flat rock that was maybe waist high on Sasuke. She lowered herself on the rock and placed her head on her crossed paws. She continued to stare at the two ninjas.

Sasuke was surprised to see Naruto take a seat on the ground with the cat over head, still holding the child, and he seemed completely comfortable with it too. Sasuke decided to be more cautious and stay on his feet next to Naruto. Sasuke looked down at Naruto and saw him hold the girl tight with one arm wrapped around her and the girl was now pressed against his chest, still sleeping. Naruto brushed back her bangs with his free hand and placed a kiss on her forehead like a father might have.

When Sasuke looked up again to the cat, there was no cat. There instead was a woman lying on her stomach naked, her head rest on her folded arm. Her blue-black hair flowed down her back, silky and smooth as the scales she had been wearing a moment ago.

The womans red eyes were focused on Naruto and the child. "The men you sent the other day, Naruto, were poisoned. Not that I mind but it makes them taste... bitter."

Sasuke's face showed signs of a little disgust. "Do you really eat men?"

The woman's gaze shifted to Sasuke. "You are a pretty one." She almost seemed to purr. "We eat their chakra, their flesh feeds the earth." She told him coldly. "Do not pass judgment on those things you do not know."

"Sasuke." Naruto said from the ground and Sasuke stared down at him. "These caverns live becaue man created them as a weapon of war. She lives because she is a weapon. She does what she was called for."

"Can I keep this one Naruto? You just don't come to visit that often anymore. I get so bored." She said as she propped herself up on her elbows and exposed her breasts to Sasuke. Sasuke blushed furiously and looked down. Naruto smiled at his friend's innocence. "The men you send down here are no good, especially when they've been poisoned."

Naruto tugged at Sasuke's sleeve, urging him to sit and Sasuke complied.

"That Kyubi's chakra... it's vicious." She said with a serious voice. "I'm surprised it hasn't killed you yet." She suddenly sat up. Sasuke immediately averted his eyes though he notice that Naruto did not do the same. He saw her feet hit the ground and she calmly walked over to Naruto.

Out of curiosity Sasuke shifted his gaze to watch Naruto, who seemed to be looking directly into the woman's eyes. The woman lowered herself onto Naruto's lap, straddling him, trapping the little girl between herself and Naruto. She leaned in and ran a hand under Naruto's chin forcing his head to tilt back, she lowered her lips close to his. "Why won't you let us help you? We could save your life."

Sasuke's eyes went wide. "You mean there's a way to save his life?" He asked staring at the woman. Then his eyes shifted to Naruto. "Naruto did you know about this?"

Naruto looked at Sasuke sadly and nodded. He shifted his gaze to the ground then. "You know I can't Koki. I can't stay here."

"You could. I'm here. Kou-chan is here. We can be a family." She lifted Naruto's head to face her and then lowered her lips on to his. Naruto's free arm wound around her and his hand ran up her back to her neck.

Sasuke felt uncomfortable watching them. As the kiss ended, he thought he saw a tear slide down Koki's cheek, but he wasn't quite sure for her hair acted as a curtain the moment she pulled away. She then leaned into Naruto's ear and whispered something. Sasuke's sharingan were of no use to him, he could not see her lips as she whispered, but he did notice Naruto's eyes go wide and then sadden. He dropped his gaze to the ground and then his head onto Koki's shoulder.

Sasuke was alarmed but Naruto seemed to still be awake. The woman ran a hand through Naruto's hair comfortingly.

After a few seconds Naruto picked his head up again and Koki raised herself off of him. Naruto looked up into her eyes and bowed his head. "Arigato Koki." His voice was low but clear.

She backed off onto the rock she had been on as Sasuke continued to stare at Naruto. When Sasuke looked back over to the woman, the cat was there again.

"Leave kid. Don't come back." Her voice came out harsh.

Naruto bowed his head immediately in response. "Hai Koki-sama." He then looked down at the small form in his arms and ran a hand over her forhead and pulled back her bangs."Kou-chan." He called to her. Sasuke was surprised to see a certain softness in Naruto's face that he had never shown before. "Kou-chan." Naruto softly called again. The girl shifted and fluttered her eyes open.

"Mmm... Naruto-nichan?" She asked in a sleepy voice, looking up at him.

"I have to go Kou-chan."

The girl's look shifted from sleepy to panicked. She wrapped her arms about Naruto tightly and pressed herself against him. "Ie Naruto-nichan. Don't leave so soon!"

"Kou-chan." Naruto said tenderly. "I have to go. I have a village to protect."

Kou's arms dropped away from Naruto's back and she had pulled back a little. Naruto took the little girl's hands in his and squeezed them. Then lowered his head and pressed his forehead against her's. "Kou-chan, I'll see you again someday when my people are safe."

He then kissed her forehead and dropped her hands. He placed his hands under her arms, picked her up and placed her on the ground on her feet standing. He then picked himself up and offered his hand to her which she took.

Naruto then looked down directly at Sasuke. "Are you coming?" He asked.

Sasuke blinked and stood up. He followed Kou and Naruto to where once again there was a door. He realized as he watched them walk ahead of him that he was an outsider to all this. That he knew very little about Naruto, or maybe he knew just what he needed to.

As Kou opened the door for Naruto and Sasuke, air rushed in and with it came the smell of rotting flesh though it lastest only for a moment. Kou seemed to look up to Sasuke and notice his expression of disgust.

"I hate that smell too. It's always there in the caves." She told him.

Sasuke seemed surprised by this. He turned back to the cavern and took in a deep breath. He did indeed notice the smell of rotting flesh, though it was very light. Sasuke turned back and followed Naruto out the door that Kou held open.


	10. Chapter 10

---10-

_3 months later..._

It was just another ordinary night at the Uchiha apartment. Naruto was lying in bed on his back, hands behind his head. Sasuke was out on the balconey having a drink.

After a few moments Sasuke came in and took his place next to Naruto. Naruto tilted his head and took a look at Sasuke and suddenly realized how close they were. The once large bed was now small. Neither of them had bothered to move out over the years, even after they had out grown the apartment and the bed. They hadn't even bothered to buy a new bed. They rationalized it with their absence at the apartment and the rarity of sleep.

Naruto removed on of his hands from behind his head, moved it down and took a hold of Sasuke's hand. Naruto could feel the cold on Sasuke's skin, just as Sasuke could feel the cold on Naruto. Sasuke squeezed Naruto's hand. And then suddenly both the men let out a bark of laughter.

It was over in seconds though and then it was deadly quiet.

"Sasuke?" There was a grunt from the Uchiha. "Why didn't you tell me?" Naruto's quiet voice asked.

Sasuke closed his eyes and contemplated the question. Sasuke knew what he was refering to. "Why didn't you?" He asked.

"You already seem to know." Naruto responded. "How did you know?"

"Kabuto." Came Sasuke's answer. "How did you know? Is that what Koki told you?"

There was a silence for neither of them had spoken of the caverns since that day. Sasuke never asked Naruto the millions questions that ran through his head. He had kept them to himself.

"Hai. That is what Koki told me." Naruto's voice was at a whisper.

"I didn't think you needed to know. You were going to go before me."

"Hai." Naruto's voice faded again.

A moment of silence passed. Sasuke felt Naruto's hand go colder. He titled his head and noticed that Naruto's eyes were closed and his chest was still. The blonde was smiling.

Sasuke turned to the ceiling again and put on one of his smirks. He was suddenly very tired. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

---

The villagers dressed in their black attire stood in orderly rows in front of two caskets. At the very front stood Tsunade, Sakura, Kakashi and Jiraya. Kakashi was doing his best to comfort the crying Sakura.

The day wasn't as dreary as the occasion. The sun shined brightly and the birds sang joyfully.

Past the villagers, at the very edge of the treeline stood a woman dressed in a black kimono. She had long black hair and red eyes. She stood holding the hand of a little girl who looked to be her daughter. The girl suddenly burst into tears and clung to the kimono of the woman.

"Koki-san! Otousan is dead! He's not coming back is he!" She wailed.

Koki bent down on to her knees in front of the little girl and pulled the girl into her embrace. "No Kou-chan, Naruto-san isn't coming back." She said with tears in her eyes.

---

_3 days later..._

"Congradulations Sakura, you're our new Hokage." Tsunade said to the Sakura who was still looking depressed, standing by the large window over looking the village.

"Kind of empty isn't it?" Sakura asked.

"It won't be the same." Tsunade responded from her seat.

Sakura let out a deep breath. Tsunade stood up from her place and turned to fully face Sakura. "So you never told them?"

"They didn't need to know."

"You tried so hard to save their lives but you couldn't save yourself."

"Naruto didn't need to know Kyubi's chakra poisoned me from that time he attacked me. He didn't need to feel guilty for one more thing." She responded, her voice hard.

"And what if you died before them?" Tsunade asked in a serious voice.

"I didn't." Sakura responded quietly.

Tsunade shrugged and gave a sigh. "The way you are, you'll live to be at least 30." Tsunade stated with a lighter voice as she turned to leave.

"Or I'll die tomorrow." Sakura quietly said from the window as she stared off into space.

"I'll keep it a secret then. Until I die that is. But you should at least tell Kakashi." She heard Tsunade say from the door. Then she heard the door click shut behind Tsunade.

"nayayi polongai vage"


	11. Not a chapter Just an AN

**This is not a chapter.** It's just a place for me to answer questions and ask my own. Do not leave reviews to this chapter.

* * *

**08.03.06**

**Gomen!**

i know i promised to update every week but i lost my computer at work and i just don't get online at home. so instead i did post the last three chapters all together. yay i'm done! they aren't too well edited and i didn't write any disclaimers on to them, but the standard disclaimer (I don't own Naruto) does apply.

sorry again that i took so long to post and thank you to those who have followed this story.

if there are any questions at this point ask away, that's if people are still curious at this point.

-Tal


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